Foundation for railway scales



Dec. 21 1926.

E. P. MUNTZ FOUNDATION FOR RAILWAY SCALES Filed March 25, 1926 iig/.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 will Patented Dec. 21, 1926.

ERIC l. MUNTZ, OF BUFFALO, NEXV YORK.

FOUNDATON FOR RAILWAY SCALES.

Application filed March 25, 1928. Serial No. 97,254.

IThis invention relates to a foundation for use in connection with a railway scale.

The pits i'f'orining the main part of rail Yay scales, as heretofore constructed7 are very i' costly on account of the steel beams and other metal structural parts employed7 the excessive amount of excavation required and the undue quantities of concrete entering into the building of the foundation. in it is the object of this invention to pro vide a foundation for railway scales having :i pit which dispenses with the use of expensive steel beams or parts, and which reducesy the excavation and the a nount of concrete employed to a minimum, but furnishes the requisite strength and facility for assembling and dismembering the parts of the scale.

ln the @,iccompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a top plan viewof railway scale foundation constructed in accordance withV my invention.

Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of the saine.

Figures 3, l and 5 are vertical transverse sections, on an enlarged scale, taken on the correspondingly numbered lines in Fig. 1.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary vertical transverse section on an enlarged scale, taken on line 6*@ Fig. 1.

-ligure 7 is atop plan view of the same.

Figure S is a fragmentary vertical section, on an enlarged scale, taken on line 8-8 Fig. 1.

Similar characters of reference indicate like parts in the several figures of the drawings:

In railway scales it is customary to support the cars and their contents or load rliich are to be weighed upon a track sec tion composed of tivo vertically movable live rails 11, 11, While the locomotive or other cars coupled with the active cars but not to be weighed are run upon a track composed 45 of two dead rails 10, 10 which are immovable and arranged adjacent to the live rails, and in addition tivo sets of immovable ape preach rails 13j 18e-14, 1l, are provided over which the ears and locomotives are run .50 on and off the live and dead scale rails, Vrrespectively.

Jlhe live and dead rails are mounted on d. Within an excavation for i: e pit arrange l 'n he scale. which pit embodies my inventionA and in its preferred form is constructed as follows The numeral 15 represents the footing or bottom of the pit, 15 the deck, roof or top thereof, 17, the longitudinal or side walls of the same and 1S its transverse or end Walls. Each of these members is constructed. of reinforced concrete, the concrete 19 of the sev eral pit members is united into one common integral mass, and the reinforcement 2O embedded in` adjacent pit members overlaps. fr pit of box like form is thus produced which is very strong and durable, and capable of sustaining the maximum iveigl'it which may be imposed on the same and still permit of making the pit members of less thickness than has been customary heretofore. As a result the amount of concrete in the pit is materially reduced and less er;`- cavation is required thereby effecting a considerable saving in the cost of building the foundation.

A reinforced box like pit made of one mass of reinforced concrete permits of dispensing With the usual steel beams for supporting the deck of the pit and thereby effects a considerable saving` in cost of con struction.

yEhe dead rails 10, 10 may be mounted on the upper surface of the decir in any suitable manner so as to forni an uninterrupted continuation of the approach rails 14, 14 leading to and from the same. As shoivn in Figs. l, 5 and S7 the dead rails are supported by ties or sleepers 21 and held in place on the deck by means of clips 22 engaging with the base of this rail and fastening bolts Q3 passing through the deck, sleeper and clips, as shown in Fig. 8. The sleepers of the tivo dead rails are also held in position transversely relatively to each other by cross tie rods 24 embedded in the upper part of the deck.

The live rails of the scale are mounted over the deck of the pit and capable of moving vertically relatively Vto the companion approach rails 13, 13 which latter are immovablymounted on opposite ends of the deck so asito form interrupted continua tions of the same, ach of the live rails is securedto theV upper end of'a plurality of posts 25 which pro'ect upwardly through a. longitudinaly row o openings 26 inthe deck. The-"level snes ef the eirsrendns rein-s eff) of posts of both live rails are connected by cross beams 2'? and the several cross beams are connected in groups at their opposite ends by longitudinal beams 28.

The longitudinal beams are supported on the longitudinal levers 29 of the scale which are pivotally mounted on the footing or bot tom of the pit and from these longitudinal levers motion is transn'iitted by a transverse level1 8O to the scale beam in the scale house 3l in any well known and approved manner.

.For the purpose of preventing rain, snow and dirt from passing through the holes 26 into the pit weather guards '32 are provided which are mounted on the top of the deck and overhang opposite sides of the post openings :26 and adjacent base portions of the live rails, as shown in Figs. l, 3, 6 and i".

In order to reliably support the approach rails in position relative to the live and dead scale rails foundation extensions are provided on opposite ends of the pit each of which consists of a transverse pier 33 of reinforced concrete of L-form in section which is set into the ground, and two reinforced concrete extension beams Se arranged lengt-hwise and united at their outer and inner ends with the respective pier and end wall of the pit, as shown in Figs. l and 2. By this means the foundation for the scale as a whole is strengthened and less concrete and a correspondingly reduced amount of exca vation is required thereby economizing in lhs cost of installation.

rl'he upper part of one or the other, and preferably both end walls of the pit are provided with openings 3.5 through which the metal parts of the scale, particularly the longitudinal and transverse girders or beams and levers may be passed in erecting the internal scale parts or when taking the same down for repairs or other purposes. To permit of thus utilizing the openings 35 in `the end walls of the pit the extension concrete beams 3l are so spaced that together the same are narrower than the pit and permit of locating the openings 35 in the pit and walls outside of the extension beams so as to enable the scale parts to be freely passed through these openings into and out of the pit.

By providing the pit with the openings 35 it is possible to build the pit complete and mount the dead rails thereon before beginning the erection of any part of the scale within the pit. lt is also possible to make repairs to scale and remove parts of the same from the pit and restore the same through the openings withoutinterfering with traffic over the dead rails as would be the case if the deck had to be takenA down in order to make the scale parts within the pit accessible for repairs and yreplacement in the manner heretofore known. rlhis improved form of pit therefore is particularly well suited for use on a track which serves a plurality of customers on a railway line inas much as the car service to other customers is not interrupted while making repairs on the respective scale.

After the scale is installed in the pit the openings 35 may be closed by a closure of any suitable character which can be readily removed when access to the interior through these openings is necessary.

This closure is preferably constructed of brick as shown at 36 in F ig. 4:.

Aside from eliminating structural steel or timber7 girders or beams or other kind of separately placed parts to support the dead rail deck or roof this organization has the further advantage of reducing the quanti'n ties of excavation and concrete to a minimum.

Moreover this pit forms practically a.

square box of reinforced concrete which is capable of resisting strains in all directions without making the same unduly heavy, it also provides adequate anchorage in poor soil conditions so that piling and expensive ground preparations for the foundationare rendered unnecessary.

Furthermore this construction forms a pit which is practically waterproof and it also provides means for moving any member of the scale mechanism into and out of the pit with ease and facility without disturbing any part of the pitor deck, thereby avoiding the expense of constructing an od-set pit for this purpose as has been necessary heretofore.

Advantages inherent in this construction in addition to those already mentioned are as follows:

A pit is provided in which the bottom, top

and walls can be made by pouring cement around the reinforcement by one continuous operation and thereby produce a seamless enclosure which is waterproof and capable of being produced at comparatively low cost.

It provides an extended and uniform bearing surface which permits of economical construction in soft soil without the use of piles or spread footings.

It provides for construction in a coffen dam of minimum width using the co'erdam as the exterior form for the concrete, saving cost of outside forms and reducing size of colferdam necessary.

All perishable deck materials are elinrnated so that repairs of the same are not required, Less excavation and concrete are required owing to a reduction in thickness of the bottom and walls, this being possible due to the box like form of the pit which is made of reinforced concrete, and therefore much stronger than a pit in which the deck is made separate from the walls.

A uniform and connected bearing is pro- 'vided by the bottom for the several scale stands, thereby eliminating heavy concentrated soil; pressures under isolated piersfor the scale stands, as has been the practice heretofore.

An economical deck is provided which can be readily protected against the majority of industrial chemicals and thereby gives the greatest protection to the scale mechamsm.

A pit is provided which when subject to vater conditions can be finished, painted, heated and kept to serve as a proper housing which the scale mechanism requires.

I claim as my invention:

1. A scale foundation comprising a pit having a deck, upright Walls, and a footing. said deck, walls and footing being constructed. of an integral mass of reinforced concrete and said deck havin an upper surface for supporting dead rails and a plurality of openings adapted to receive posts which support live rails above the deck from the scale mechanism below the deck.

2. A scale foundation comprising a pit having a deck, upright walls, and a footing, said deck, Walls and footing being construct ed of an integral mass of reinforced concrete and said deck having an upper surface for supporting dead rails and a plurality of openings adapted to receive posts which supportlive rails above the deck from the scale mechanism below the deck and said walls being provided with openings for the passage of scale parts into and out of' the pit.

1n testimony whereof I hereby affix my signature.

ERIC P. MUN T7 

